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Julie Drewes

Football KatieJo Kuhens

No. 5 Wartburg Travels to Face No. 1 UW-Whitewater in Elite Eight

WAVERLY, Iowa-- Fifth-ranked Wartburg (12-0 overall) travels to face top-ranked UW-Whitewater (12-0) who is also the defending National Champions, Saturday at noon in an NCAA Elite Eight game.

Updated bracket

The Series
The two programs have only met once before, in another Elite Eight matchup in 2008. The Warhawks were victorious, 34-17 in that game.



Tickets
$11 for adults. $5 for students and seniors. Ticket window will open at 10 a.m.

Wartburg Fan Bus
Click here to reserve your spot on the Wartburg fan bus. Seats are $40 per person and the fan bus gives you hassle-free transportation! Seats purchased on a first-come, first-served basis.

Follow the Knights
Click here for the live video produced by UW-Whitewater.
Click here for the live audio provided by KWAY radio. Join Mark Simpson, Terry Goetzinger and Matt Ray on the call.
Click here for the live stats.

To the Victor
The winner of Saturday's game will face the winner between No. 10 Widener/No. 11 Linfield in the NCAA semifinals next Saturday. The game time and location will be announced Sunday, Dec. 7.

A Look at the Teams
UW-Whitewater

The Warhawks enter Saturday's game on a 29-game winning streak, the longest in all of college football regardless of division. UW-Whitewater won its First-round game against Macalaster, 55-2 and won its Second-round game against No. 14 Wabash (Ind.), 38-14.

Dennis Moore leads the team on the ground with 799 yards on 127 carries for three touchdowns. Jordan Ratliffe has a team-best nine rushing TDs.

Matt Behrendt has thrown for 2,776 yards, which includes 32 TDs and is 217-315-4. He ranks fifth in DIII in completion percentage (.688) and seventh in passing efficiency (174.0).

In the receivers group, Justin Howardhas a team-high 67 catches for 956 yards and nine TDs. Jake Kumerow has a team-best 11 TD receptions and had 782 yards on 47 catches.

Justin Dischler leads the defense with 79 tackles (54 solo and 25 assists) which includes 6.5 tackles for a loss of 19 yards.

The Warhawks are second in Division III in scoring defense (8.5 pts/game), third in first downs offense (297), sixth in red zone defense (.545) and team passing efficiency (172.37), eighth in rushing defense (83.7 yds/game).

Wartburg
Head coach Rick Willis was named the Ed Thomas Coach of the Week. Click here to watch the story.
The Knights won their opening round games, 37-31 over No. 20 St. Thomas in the First-round and 21-10 over No. 13 St. John's (Minn.) in the Second-round. In last week's win, the Orange and Black set a new school record for wins in a season with 12.

Junior Brandon Domeyer (Manchester) surpassed the 1,000 yard rushing mark on his second carry of the game last week. He is Wartburg's first running back to eclipse the century mark since Dan Hammes in 2006. Domeyer is the 16th 1,000 yard rusher in program history.

Domeyer leads the team on the ground with 1,101 yards and 18 TDs.

Classmate Logan Schrader (Killdeer, Ill.) has thrown for 2,829 yards, is 179-288-5 with 29 TD passes. He broke Wartburg Athletics Hall of Fame quarterback, and current offensive coordinator, Matt Wheeler's mark of 28 set in 1999.

Senior Taylor Jacobsmeier (Wapello) has a team-best 60 receptions for 985 yards and eight touchdowns. Junior Robbie Anstoetter (Farley) has a team-best 10 TD catches.

Junior Gunner Tranel (Vinton) leads the defense with 114 total tackles (66 solo and 48 assists). He also has a team-best 11 tackles for a loss of 37 yards.

The Knights have never faced a No. 1 team in program history.

Wartburg has now set new season school records in:
-Wins: 12, old mark was 11 set in 2003 and 2013.
-Points: 511. old mark was 449 set in 1994.
-Points in a game: 83. Old mark was 73 set in 2012.
-TDs: 71, old mark was 64 set in 1994
-Total offense: 5,667, old mark was 5,112 set in 1994.
-Have tied record in playoff wins in a season: 2, 2008.

Career Record Watch:
Domeyer has now entered the top ten list in career rushing yards and is tenth in this category (2372). He is tied for seventh in rushing TDs (33) and tenth in total points scored (204).

Junior Logan Schrader (Killdeer, Ill.) is fourth in pass completions (442), passing yards (6,077) and passing TDs (52), fifth in pass completion percentage (60.2) and sixth in pass efficiency (146.9).

Senior Donald Miller (Maywood, Ill.) is tied for eighth with 110 pass receptions and tied for seventh with 13 TD receptions.

Junior Michael Bohlke (Manchester) is fourth in field goals (18) and seventh in PAT kicks made (99). Classmate Grant Zimmerman (Mendota, Ill.) is eighth with 5,187 punt yards and fifth in yards/punt (38.42).

Senior Spencer Capitani (Northwood) is third in pass breakups (28) and tenth in punt returns (47).

Wartburg in NCAA stat rankings
As a team, the Knights rank in the top 100 of 39 statistical categories and 11 players rank in 25 individual categories. Click here to view that complete story.

Wartburg in the NCAA Playoffs:
Wartburg (1982-93-94-99, 2002-03-04-08-10-13-14)
Wartburg vs. Bishop, 1982, First-round, L 7-32
Wartburg vs. Wis.-La Crosse, 1993, Regionals, L 26-55
Wartburg vs. Central,  1994, Regionals, W 22-21
Wartburg vs. Saint John's, 1994, Quarterfinals, L 14-42
Wartburg vs. Pacific-Lutheran, 1999, Second-round, L 14-49
Wartburg vs. Lake Forest, 2002, First-round, W 45-0
Wartburg @ Linfield, 2002, Second-round, L 15-52
Wartburg vs. Bethel, 2003, First-round, W 21-7
Wartburg @ Linfield, 2003, Second-round, L 20-23
Wartburg @ Concordia-Moorhead, 2004, First-round, L 14-28
Wartburg @ Wis.-Stevens Point, 2008, First-round, W 26-21
Wartburg @ Monmouth, 2008, Second-round, W 30-28
Wartburg @ #5 Wis.-Whitewater, 2008, Quarterfinals, L 17-34
Wartburg vs. Bethel, 2010, First-round, L 20-28
Wartburg @ Illinois Wesleyan, 2013, First-round W 41-7
Wartburg @ Bethel, Second-round, L 27-34
Wartburg vs. #20 St. Thomas, 2014, First-round, W 37-31
Wartburg vs. #13 St. John's, 2014, Second-round (Sweet Sixteen), W 21-10

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